Corps Castle is the logo of the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

(USACE). The logo is typically a white

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

with three towers set on a red background. When the Corps Castle is worn as insignia on a uniform, it is similar to the logo design but with a dull or shiny brass finish. The look of the Corps Castle traces its history back to the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and has evolved over time. The logo has received changes throughout the years but gets its finalizing shape from the United States Military Academy Barracks named Pershing Barracks.

Background

The medieval

as a logo was started in 1840 on an informal basis. Beginning in 1841, cadets at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, New York wore personal insignia of this type known as

Gold Castles Gold Castles is the name of the Carat (purity), 14K gold insignia pin handed down from General Douglas MacArthur to his chief engineer Major General Leif J. Sverdrup in 1945, who established a tradition in 1975 that it shall be given to each succe ...

on their uniforms as they became commissioned officers in the U.S. Army. In 1902, the Corps Castle was formally adopted by the Army as the insignia of the Corps of Engineers. On formal and semi-formal uniforms, the logo is customarily gold in color, although it was changed to silver from gold from 1894–1921. When displayed on combat uniforms for special events, it is customarily black in color. In visual color media, the Corps Castle logo is customarily presented in red and white colors.USACE: Corps Castle Traces a Long History
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History and origins

The turreted castle was adapted as the symbol of the Engineers, due it representing the two primary responsibilities of an Engineer, offense, and defense.

French connection

As a consequence, many speculative stories about the origins of the engineers have been advanced. One story traces the origins to a French connection. During the American Revolution, the Continental Army filled its necessity for trained military engineers by either borrowing them from France or having French engineers volunteer for service in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

. Stories about castle origins credit these French engineers, in particular, General Louis Lebegue Duportail, Chief Engineer, Continental Army, 22 July 1777 – 10 Oct. 1783, with a design based on a castle-style fortification in

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

, France. These French engineers disappeared from the scene before the castle design appeared in the American Army.

Williams explanation

While there may be some truth to the French connection, the origins are also attributed to Colonel Jonathan Williams and a member of his staff, Alexander Macomb. Williams—grandnephew of Benjamin Franklin—assisted Franklin during his tenure as envoy to France during the

. After the war, he adopted engineering as a profession. In 1801, Williams was a major, Corps Artillerists engineer, and Inspector of Fortifications. In 1802, President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

appointed him commander of the newly created Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Thus, he was the first Chief Engineer and First Superintendent of West Point of the reestablished Corps. Through his work as Chief Engineer, there is a clue as to who designed the Corps insignia. Between 1807 and 1812, he designed and constructed Castle Williams to defend

New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

. The gateway to that castle-style fortification bore an eagle over the center. Other examples included

Castle Pinckney Castle Pinckney is a small masonry fortification constructed by the United States government, in the Charleston Harbor, harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1810. It was used very briefly as a prisoner-of-war camp (six weeks) and artillery po ...

in Charleston, South Carolina and Castle Clinton, which also defended New York Harbor. An assistant on his staff was Colonel Alexander Macomb, who became the Chief Engineer, 1 June 1821 through 24 May 1828. In 1828, he was elevated to Commanding General of the U.S. Army. In 1807, he made the earliest known drawing of the Engineer Button adorned with a castle motif, worn on the uniforms of the West Point cadets during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Another engineer officer—Colonel Richard Delafield, superintendent of the military academy—added the turreted castle to the new uniform for the West Point cadets in 1838. Macomb—as Commanding General of the U.S. Army—had an active part in the design of the new uniform. The castle was also a major element in the architectural design of the buildings at

, as typified by the old library built in 1841 that survived until 1961, when it was torn down. Delafield supervised the design and construction of the buildings destroyed by the fire, including the old library. From the evidence, one would conclude that Williams and Macomb, both familiar with French military tradition and heraldry, designed not only the Corps castle emblem but also the Essayons button. Although Macomb's design appeared in 1807, the authoritative description of the button appeared in February 1840, in General Orders 7, AGO: 'Essayons,’ a bastion with embrasures in the distance, surrounded by water, and the rising sun, the figures to be of dead gold upon a bright field". While the designs of the emblem and the button have changed, the castle remains a distinctive symbol of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Captain

Alden Partridge Alden Partridge (February 12, 1785 – January 17, 1854) was an American author, legislator, officer, surveyor, an early superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and a controversial pioneer in U.S. milita ...

, Acting Superintendent of the

from 1808–1817, was described by General George D. Ramsey: "Captain Partridge was never known to be without his uniform... His was that of the Corps of Engineers with embroidered cuffs and the Essayons button..."Buzzaird, Raleigh B. 1950. "Insignia of the Corps of Engineers." The Military Engineer. Volume XLII, Number 286. March–April 1950. p. 103.

United States Marine Corps

The Marine Corps adapted the Corps Castle for the insignia of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Combat Engineer Battalions. When the 18th Naval Construction Battalion was re-designated 3rd Battalion 18th Marines they also adapted the Corps Castle.

References